Question for Algolith Mosquito Owners

[Tong Chia]

I have an SDI modded RP82 and I am wondering if it is worth
giving up the SDI connection to use the Algolith mosquito.

The PQ from the SDI connection into my HD Leeza is far better
(to my eye) than the component outputs.

The HDL drives a 50" Panasonic 6UY HD plasma and the
mosquito noise and other MPEG artifacts are quite visible
(even after ISF calibration).

Do any of you who bought the Mosquito also have a similarly
modified player ?

If so I would like to hear your thoughts about why you pulled
the trigger or any regrets/misgivings you may care to share.

Thanks.

[lostchild]

Tong, sorry if this doesn't exactly answer your question, as I don't have the same setup as you.
but I do have a Denon 5900 player connected to my marantz S3 projector both with DVI and component (in this case, through the Algolith Mosquito processor).
I can tell you that now I tend to use the component/Algolith connection much more than the DVI especially when the dvd I'm watching has a poor transfer.
When the transfer is poor, going full digital with SDI or DVI doesn't help much.
DVI (and SDI, I guess) just allows you to avoid additional noise due to the AD conversion, but can't do much about the noise that's already in the source.
The purpose of the Mosquito, from what I understand, is mainly to process and "fix" the video artifacts found in the source (Algolith guys, correct me if I am wrong).

My question now would be: since the Mosquito doesn't have a DVI or SDI input, would it be possible - technically - at least to have it SDI modified, just like you can have most DVD players modified?
That would give you the best of both worlds.

[oferlaor]

SDI mods for input are much more difficult than for output because they require cutting off the existing input. In many cases, it also means that SDI would be the only input (i.e., the switcher part of the system would also have to be destroyed).

I don't think such a mod is worth the risk.

[lostchild]

Oferalor:
I just bumped into a thread where people were talking about a "SDI in" modified DVDO IscanHD.
So I guess that even if it's difficult, having a Mosquito modified would be possible. Do you know if there are any companies that make custom modifications? And do you think such a mod would not be worth the risk even if the plan is to achieve a DVD->Mosquito->Scaler->Projector all digital path?

[AndreYew]

IScan HD was designed to accept an SDI input card that can be installed later, whereas a Mosquito probably isn't. That's why there's an SDI "mod" (which is not really mod, as it is more of a designed hardware upgrade) for IScan HD, but not for a Mosquito. It's really too bad that Mosquito doesn't have any provisions for digital inputs.

--Andre

[muniman]

tong,
i have a similar situation to yours. i have a PMDT with SDI that i run into the iscan HD via SDI and a sony 999es that i run component to the algolith then component to iscan HD and both out to my plasma display. it's nice to have both! but the answer to your question lies in the quality of the DVD you are watching. for a superbit DVD, or other well mastered DVD, i think the PMDT w/ SDI is the way to go, giving me IMHO, awesome PQ, however if the DVD you have is of poor quality, say like 'master and commander' the algolith goes a long long way to cleaning it up and improving the PQ, while if you were not using the algolith and the SDI instead you would just see a brilliant display of how badly mastered that DVD was. so the easy solution is use both! otherwise, perhaps you need to look at the quality of your DVD collection. FWIW, i don't think you'll ever be sorry if you got the mosquito, if only for SD content alone. good luck!

[lostchild]

the slightly sad aspect of all this is that it would have taken SO LITTLE to get the best of both worlds. SO LITTLE.

[muniman]

a little OT here, but how is everyone inputing SD into algolith 480i or 480p? i read in the review in WSR that 480p was better so switched to 480p for SD content, but i still use 480i for DVD, any thoughts?